Almost immediately, that list began to shrink as Hiddink’s agent ruled him out due to his post-World Cup commitment to Holland and Laudrup’s representative insisted he was committed to staying at Swansea until the end of the season.

On Tuesday, Klinsmann followed suit through Gulati who explained that the German coach’s new four-year deal should remove any doubt of his immediate future. Gulati also admitted despite notice of interest from the likes of Tottenham and Switzerland, who are looking for Ottmar Hitzfeld’s long-term successor, that was not the primary motive in getting the deal done.

“On a specific level, none of those things were critical to us,” said Gulati. “The desire to make sure we had a long-term commitment from Jurgen, and he had one from us, was part of it, and market dynamic does dictate some of that.

“So we’re not oblivious to the fact that Jurgen over the last two years has had an extraordinary run with the national team and that would bring a lot of interest from the outside.

“Sure, some of that matters, but not specifically the Switzerland or Tottenham issues, but generally a coach that has done very well, that has an international reputation, who speaks multiple languages would be sought after.”

Following news of Klinsmann’s new deal December 12th most US Soccer fans were in good spirits although as Pro Soccer Talk’s Steve Davis explained, the timing didn’t look quite right. Questions remained: Wouldn’t it make more sense to address all this after the World Cup? Won’t U.S. Soccer look pretty bad in the unlikely event that things fall completely to pieces next summer in Brazil?

Perhaps now, with Villas-Boas’ sacking and reflection upon Gulati’s carefully chosen words, those questions come closer to being answered. Namely, a number of managerial positions have opened up recently and will continue to open from now until the end of the club season.

And, given Klinsmann’s managerial accomplishments and notoriety, US Soccer couldn’t afford not to lock down the man who reinvented the national team and punched the Yanks ticket to Brazil.Follow @mprindi